Stove



I April 9,1940.

0. A. NOE 2,196,339

STOVE Filed Aug. 15, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 9, 1940 UNITEDSTATES AVTENT oFFrcE I 3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to stoves. More specifically, itrelates to an improved stove top for use with gas and other fluid fuelburning stoves.

In the conventional type of fluid fuel burning stoves, a number ofseparate burners are arranged in spaced relationshipwith each other andare covered with an open grill, the sole purpose of which is tosupportthe cooking vessels.

9" It is well recognized that this type of stove is face, is relativelythick at its center and is relavery inefficient when considered from thepoint of view of the quantity of heat which is actually utilized ascompared withthe amount of heat which should be'useful-ly available perunit of fuel consumed. Also with the conventional type of stove, it isnot feasible totu'se more cooking vessels than the number of availableburners in the stove. A further objection to the use of a grille tosupport cooking vessels is that this grill is difiicult to clean and,therefore, due to the spilling of foods, frequently becomes greasy andunsanitary.

'It is the primary object of my invention to provide a stove top whichgives greatly increased cooking emciency per unit of fuel consumed.

Another object of my invention is to provide a stove top which willsupport'a greater number of cooking vessels than is possible with theconventional type of stove, and with which all of the cooking vesselswill be heated by a single burner. 1 F 1 l Anotherobject of'my inventionis to provide a stove top which will provide an evendistribution of heatto large cooking vessels or to a num-' ber of cooking vessels.

Another objectofmy invention is'to provide a stove top which maybeeasily cleaned and which will consequently be much more sanitary.

The above enumerated objects and other obvious advantages of myinvention are accomplished by providing astove top in the form of ametal sheet which has a'plane upper surface and having its lower surfacein the form of an inverted polygonal pyramid.- I prefer to construct mystove top of metal'having a high cone ductivity, such" as aluminum. Fromthe above description, it will be seen that I have provided a stove topwhich, while having a flat upper surtively thin at its edges due to theuniform tapering of the lower surface. When heat is applied by means ofa single burner located at the vertex of the inverted pyramid whichforms the lower surface, the stove top will become heated and after theburner has been lighted for a few moments, the stove top will reach astate of equilibrium in which all parts of the upper surface of thestove top are at substantially the same temperature. In this way I amable to provide a stovetop which is heated by means of a single burnerand which prevents any part of the stove top from becoming overheatedwhile other parts remain relatively cool. Since the upper surface of thestove top is merely a flat plane, it is easy to clean and thuscontributes to cleanliness and sanitation. I 1

A more detailed description of myinvention may be had with reference tothe appendeddrawings in which" s Figure l is a perspective .view of theupper surface of a stove top'constructed with my invention; I 1 i 1Figure 2 is a front'elevational view of my stove top showing thesupporting frame and a burner in position; Figure 3 is a cross sectionalview taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1; I

Figure 4 is a plan view of the supporting frame with the stove topremoved and the burner. in position;

Figure 5 is a plan view of a stove top constructed in accordance with amodified form of my invention; and I Figure '6 is a cross sectional viewtaken along the line Gm-G of Figure 5.

In the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like referencecharacters in all of the views, the stove top in general is designatedby the reference character I; The' reference numeral. 2 designatestheflat plane upper surface of the stove top, while its edges aredesignated by the reference character 3. The lower surface of the stovetop is in the form of an inverted polygonal pyramid with a vertex 4 atits center and withupwardly-inclined surfaces 5. While. in the form ofthe invention which I have il1ustrated, the stove top is square, I donot wish my invention to be understood as limited to this shape, sinceit is obvious that the stove top may be made of any desired polygonalshape, or, if desired, item be. madepcircular in shape and having alower surface in the form of an inverted cone. The stove top may besupported by a framework designated generally by the reference numeral6. The framework 6 comprises angle irons I extending around the edges ofthe stove top and an inner frame of angle irons B'Which are rivetedtogether and connected to the outer frame formed from angle irons I bymeans of the in accordance diagonally extending braces 9. Depending fromthe inner supporting frame are the L-shaped burner supports l0. Theseburner supports are provided at their lower ends with diagonallydirected extensions II which are provided at their inner ends withdrilled holes 12.

A burner I3 is provided on its lower side with lugs l4 which are spacedto fit into the drilled holes I 2 in the burner support. The burner l3,which is thus supported, may be of any conventional design, but I preferto use a large polygonal shaped burner which, though of course muchsmaller, is of the same general shape as the stove top. The shape ofthis burner is best shown in Fig. 4, where I have illustrated a squaregas burner which is provided with combustion apertures 29. At the centerof the large burner I prefer to provide a pilot burner [5 which isprovided with combustion apertures IS. The pilot burner is supportedwithin the center of the large burner by means of the shelf typebrackets ll.

Gaseous fuel is introduced into the large burner by means of theflexible tube It. The introduction of this gas is controlled by means ofthe valve l9 and the gas is mixed with air within the mixing chamber 20which is provided with air vents 2|. Gaseous fuel is introduced into thepilot burner by means of the flexible tube 22. The pilot burner I5 isdesigned to burn continuously.

Since my stove top is Well adapted to be used as a replacement for theconventional grid type top, I have found it advisable to provide mystove top with draft holes 23 to permit ventilation and escape of gasesin case the burner is completely enclosed within a conventional type gasstove.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a stove top and burnerarrangement which utilizes a single burner to heat a large surface areato substantially equal temperature.

It will also be seen that this is accomplished by the use of a stove topwhich is ornamental and easy to clean. It will be apparent to thoseskilled in this art that the use of this stove top will conserve much ofthe heat which is now lost by the use of the grill type stove top nowused on gas stoves.

In the modified form of my invention shown in Figs. 5 and 6, I form acircular hole in the center of the stove top which is designated by thereference character 24. At a point below the upper surface of the stovetop, the opening 24 is provided with an internal shelf-like flange 25and the opening below this flange is of reduced diameter, as shown at26. This hole is so positioned as to be directly over the pilot burnerl5, and is provided with a lid 21 which fits within and is adapted toclose the opening 24. The lid 27 is provided with a recess 28 to permitthe insertion of a lid lifter to remove the lid. The purpose of this lidand lifter is to permit the insertion of any small utensil into theopening 24 for the purpose of heating it by means of the pilot burnerl5. In this manner, it is possible to heat a small utensil without theuse of a large burner and without appreciably heating the stove top. Thelid 21 should fit snugly into the opening 24 so that when this lid is inplace and the large burner in use, there will be a good heat conductingjoint between the stove top and the lid 21.

While I prefer to construct my stove top of cast or cold rolledaluminum, it will be obvious that any other material of high heatconductivity will be suitable.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a stove assembly, the combination of a stove top comprising asolid metal plate having a plane upper surface and a lower surface inthe form of an inverted polygonal pyramid, a central pilot burnerunderlying the vertex of said lower surface, and a second burnersurrounding said central pilot burner and underlying the relativelythick central portion of said stove top.

2. In a stove assembly, the combination of a stove top comprising asolid plate of metal of high heat conductivity having a plane uppersurface and a lower surface so formed that the thickness of said plateincreases uniformly from relatively thin edges to a relatively thickcentral portion, a central aperture through said plate, a central pilotburner underlying said aperture and a second burner surrounding saidpilot burner and underlying the relatively thick central portion of saidplate.

3. A stove top adapted to be uniformly heated by means of a centralburner comprising a solid metal plate having a plane upper surface and alower surface in the form of an inverted polygonal pyramid, thethickness of the solid metal plate at any given point being inverselyproportional to the horizontal distance of said point from the vertex ofsaid lower surface whereby heat applied at the vertex of said lowersurface is conducted through a substantially greater thickness of solidmetal than heat applied to other portions of said lower surface.

OLIVE A. NOE.

